Midway through the first round of the ANA Inspiration, American Lexi Thompson and Korean countrywomen Jin Young Ko and Hyo Joo Kim are tied atop the leaderboard at -3. Thompson birdied her final two holes to push into a tie for the lead, while Ko and Kim both birdied their next-to-last hole (No. 17 for Ko and No. 8 for Kim). Thompson and Kim are both already major champions, with Thompson winning this event in 2014 and Kim capturing the 2014 Evian Championship thanks in part to a first-round 61, the lowest round at a major by any golfer, male or female.
Seven players are tied for second at -2: major champions Lydia Ko and Cristie Kerr; 2019 rookie Lauren Stephenson; American Solheim Cup players Jessica Korda and Lizette Salas; four-time LPGA Tour winner Amy Yang; and American Jane Park, who is looking for her first victory in her 13th year on the LPGA Tour. Defending champion Pernilla Lindberg opened with a 1-over 73.
Rolex Rankings No. 5 Jin Young Ko (69)
- Ko’s first-round 69 is her career-best round at the ANA Inspiration and her first-ever round in the 60s on the Dinah Shore Course; her previous best was a 70 in the first round in 2017
- She hit 11 of 14 greens and 16 of 18 fairways, with 31 putts
- Ko is in her second season on the LPGA Tour; she won the 2018 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in her Membership debut and won the 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship as a non-Member
- This is Ko’s sixth event of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; she won the Bank of Hope Founders Cup, finished second at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and tied for third at the HSBC Women’s World Championship
- She is competing in her fourth ANA Inspiration; her best finish is T64 in 2018
- Ko won the 2018 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year honors, an award she clinched with four events remaining in the season
Rolex Rankings No. 9 Lexi Thompson (69)
- Thompson’s first-round 69 is tied for her second-lowest round of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; she shot 67 twice and 69 three times, most recently in the final round of last week’s Kia Classic
- She hit seven of 14 greens and 11 of 18 fairways, with 26 putts
- Thompson is in her eighth season on the LPGA Tour; she has 10 victories, including a major win at the 2014 ANA Inspiration
- This is Thompson’s fifth event of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; her best finish is T10 at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions
- She is competing in her 10th ANA Inspiration; she won the tournament in 2014, finished second in a playoff in 2017, has two other top-10 finishes and has never missed the cut
- Thompson won the 2017 Vare Trophy for the season’s low scoring average and also captured that year’s Race to the CME Globe
- She has won an event in each of the past six LPGA Tour seasons, the longest active streak on Tour
- She represented the USA at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she finished T19, and is a three-time member of the USA Solheim Cup and UL International Crown Teams
Rolex Rankings No. 39 Hyo Joo Kim (69)
- Kim’s first-round 69 is tied for her career-best round at the ANA Inspiration; she previously shot 69 in the third round in 2016 and the fourth round in 2015
- She hit 10 of 14 fairways and nine of 18 greens, with 26 putts
- Kim is in her fifth season on the LPGA Tour; she has three victories, including a major win at the 2014 Evian Championship as a non-Member
- Her first-round 61 at the 2014 Evian Championship is the lowest round at a major by any golfer, male or female
- This is Kim’s fifth event of the 2019 LPGA Tour season; her best finish is T5 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship
- She is competing in her fifth ANA Inspiration; her best finish is T11 in her debut in 2015
- Kim finished second in the 2015 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race
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